174 Palestinians shot by live, rubber bullets in West Bank, Jerusalem

A masked Palestinian hurls rocks at Israeli soldiers during clashes following the funeral of Mohammed Fares al-Jaabari on October 10, 2015, in the West Bank town of Hebron. (AFP/Hazem Bader)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and injured at least 174 Palestinians with live and rubber-coated steel bullets across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem on Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent told Ma'an.

Spokesperson Errab Foqaha said that 26 Palestinians were shot with live rounds and a further 148 with rubber-coated steel bullets.

Some 408 Palestinians suffered excessive tear gas inhalation, she said, while four were violently beaten.

Clashes were reported across occupied East Jerusalem, where earlier in the day Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians, two of whom allegedly carried out stabbing attacks that injured four Israelis.

A further 10 were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets, including two journalists, with most of the protesters Palestinian students from Beir Zeit University.

The students initially marched to the home of Muhannad al-Halabi, a 19-year-old who was shot dead by Israeli forces after carrying out a fatal stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City earlier this month, killing two Israelis.

Some seven Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets during clashes near Bab al-Zawiya near Hebron, the Red Crescent said earlier Saturday, while another four Palestinians were injured during clashes in al-Ram, to the south of Ramallah.

Israeli troops tried to raid the village, but Palestinian protesters closed off the streets with cement blocks and threw stones and Molotov cocktails at them, forcing the soldiers to remain at an Israeli military base nearby.

Separately, there were are fierce clashes in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinian boys, aged 12 and 15.

The Red Crescent, which does not operate widely in Gaza, reported seven more Palestinians shot with live fire there.

The number injured on Saturday will bring the total well over 1,000 since clashes broke out at the beginning of this month.

Some 20 Palestinians have been killed in the same time period, 13 of whom were shot during clashes.